Takeda Hospital

The Takeda Hospital is small, it only has 15 beds. In fact, I was recently told that it is too small to use the Japanese word for hospital byouin but rather must use some other word which I do not know. In any case, it is much more than a simple hospital. It is on one of the main roads and is in the built up part of the town and is quite popular in spite of there being other, larger hospitals nearer to Fukuoka City. The Dr. Takeda, the man who built the hospital in the first place, told me that it was 40 years old and the area had been all rice paddies when he first set it up. The town has grown since then and will become a city next year. The following picture is the view from across the street.

 The hospital offers a number of services. First, Dr Takeda, the son and my usual doctor, takes outpatients during the day. He is a specialist in the digestive track but functions as a general practitioner. This function is carried out in a clinic on the right end of the first floor. This area has an x-ray machine, ultrasound, and other equipment, more than I expected in a facility of this size. Apparently, the Japanese government helps finance such expensive equipment. He is busy enough that he usually has at least three nurses working with him.

On the second floor above the clinic, is an operating room and associated areas. The father was a surgeon and operated here, but he has now retired and only appears when his son is absent for some reason.

On the second floor there are patient rooms at the left end of the building. I will show more of this area in another post.

The first floor at the left end of the building contains a daycare and rehabilitation center for adults. The daycare center takes care of the elderly, feeding them, doing exercises and games, etc. This is important when the others in the family have to work and the elder are reaching the point where they can not be left alone.

 This the hospital from down the street. You can see the daycare and rehabilitation center on the first floor and the hospital on the second. My room was the one in the middle, the one where the top half of the window is black.

This is the back of the building. When I go for my monthly visit, I enter through the door on the left. It is very convenient because my apartment is on this road and only one block to the left.